Long delays building with SPH - Advice needed :-(

Hi everyone,

My partner and i are currently going through the motions with SPH'S. We purchased a block of land in August 2009 and quickly signed up with SPH'S in the first week of September 2009.

Its February 2010, 25 weeks after we signed with them and payed the deposit and we have still not received our final plans back. Im really concerned about the long delay and want to know if this is normal? We were under the impression that by this time of year our slab would be going down. Once our plans are signed we will still have to wait roughly 3 months for them to go through council and we are told there is a long wait to get a pre start appointment.

Im really concerned and want to know if anyone else has had this problem?

hey, we signed up with sph end of july, we didnt get pre start till december we now have final drawings but didnt get them till about a month ago. We are still waiting to hear when our slab is due to go down.

Hi,

Thanks for your reply, do your plans still have to go through council?

our plans have already been to council, where abouts are you building?

our plans have already been to council, where abouts are you building?[/quote]

We have to go through the Wanneroo Council which takes about 3 months. Its becoming a bit of a joke

We have to go through the Wanneroo Council which takes about 3 months. Its becoming a bit of a joke /quote]

I would say that is more the fault of the council then the builder, the builder won't have any control over how long your council takes to approve plans.

So, what is causing the delay? Thats a ridiculous amount of time to be waiting!!

What has SPH's said is the cause of the delay?

We signed up in May, pre-start and land settlement in August and slab down was at the end of November. Our roof has now just been completed.

It took less than a month for us to get through Wanneroo council. When your plans are sent to council it doesn't hurt if you ring up for a chat about it, say you're just checking that they have received the plans and inquire what the turn around time is like. If they say to call back in 3 weeks, call them again in 2 weeks

Where abouts are you building?

An alteration had to be made to the plans but that wasnt brought to our attention until the middle of December (16 weeks after we signed). It was not a significant problem either so there is no good excuse as to why there is such a ridiculous delay.

If I were you i'd start making noises about cancelling your contract with SPH.

Im awaiting a call from the area manager as we speak. Wish me luck

We are building in Quinns Rocks.

Its nice to hear that you are having success with your build, it just shows how much we have been messed around. I will definitley take up your advice about keeping in contact with the council. Cheers

Am sending you plenty of luck To my mind tho, there's just no way they can justify it dragging on for such a HUGE amount of time!! And either way, they should have kept in constant touch with YOU so that you know what is happening.

And I agree with locust, definitely keep in touch with the Council once your plans get to them

We signed up in June, final plans back end of August, Prestart end of October, and earthworks should be starting today

Sorry to hear about all your problems, and good luck!

They really seem to be the victims of their own success.

What design have you chosen?

Hi samadon, we are building with SPH also in wanneroo council area. signed up 12th sep 2009, plans submitted to council (after many alterations) on 4th Jan & we received building licence 27th Jan. Had pre start beginning feb (only 2 week wait there to get appointment) plans resubed to council (more changes on our part!!) & they only took 6 days to re approve new design . Now just waiting for final drawings to sign off on & then off to scheduling we go!!!!
When 1st waiting for council approval we were told 8 - 12 weeks but that's just to cover themselves, i also took locus' advice & called a couple of times just to make sure ours weren't being overlooked!!!
fingers crossed you hear something real soon

Thanks for the support

How lucky are you? I hope ours gets reapproved that quick!!


Samadon, I guess it's luck of the draw with SPH. Some people have managed to get good times and some others I know are way behind. Good luck!

There must be some factor at play surely? It cant just be luck?

I'm hoping that there is something else as the wife and I just signed to build a Floreat with SPH and we are hoping the dramas are ending now we arent having to deal with the sales consultant...

Funny you should say that, our sales guy resigned before we got our plans & since dealing with SPH direct we have had a very smooth run (not without the waiting tho!!!)
When you get plans back, along with pre start pack make sure you triple check everything as there were heaps of things our sales rep told us (& charged us for) that were incorrect & ended up costing us a few $k to fix up his mistakes. Thankfully SPH office staff have helped us in sorting things out. Just make sure you go over plans with fine tooth comb regarding sizes & postioning of things & that you are getting exactly what was quoted by sales rep!!!!!

We signed up in early September and got our working plans at the end of January. We had prestart last week so within two weeks of receiving the plans which was unexpectedly quick.

I think a lot of the delays have been caused by the success of the Vittoria range in particular and the need to process the first home buyers to meet the grant deadlines. Unfortunately that means anyone who wasn't a first home buyer has had to wait longer.

I just keep telling myself the house will be all worth it in the end!